how to say “written in a foreign language” in Hebrew
לוֹעֲזִית
Yesterday I introduced the Hebrew term for foreign language – שָׂפָה זָרָה (sah-FAH zah-RAH).
Today I’m going to introduce a caveat to that entry.
When describing something written in a foreign language, Israelis are less likely to say זֶה כָּתוּב בְּשָׂפָה זָרָה – it’s written in a foreign language (zeh kah-TOOV beh-sah-FAH zah-RAH), than to say זֶה כָּתוּב בְּלוֹעֲזִית (zeh kah-TOOV beh-loh-ah-ZEET).
לועזית is the catch-all term for any language other than Hebrew. It comes from the Biblical Hebrew hapax legomenon (word that appears only once in the Biblical canon), לֹעֵז (loh-EZ), which can be found in the הלל Hallel service (Psalms 114).
In Biblical Hebrew, לועז means unintelligible – basically, any language foreign to Hebrew speakers.
Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov
I’ve seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself.
Check out Yom Tov’s virtual gallery,
and visit his Kohelet exhibition in Jerusalem.
It’s openthroughout the summer.
It’s openthroughout the summer.